Ciego de Ávila City () is a city in the central part of Cuba and the capital of Ciego de Ávila Province. The city has a population of about 497.000, in a municipality of 756,373.

Geography

Ciego de Ávila lies on the Carretera Central highway and on a major railroad. Its port, Júcaro, lies south-southwest on the coast of the

Gulf of Ana Maria A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodies ...

of the Caribbean Sea, in the adjacent municipality of Venezuela. The city is located about east of Havana and west of the city of

Camagüey Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 321,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province. It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by S ...

. It was part of the Camagüey Province until 1976, when

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

's government made Ciego de Ávila the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of the newly created Ciego de Ávila Province. By 1945, the municipality was divided into the

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

s of Angel Castillo, Ceballos, Guanales, Jagüeyal, Jicotea, José Miguel Gómez, Júcaro, La Ceiba, Majagua, Norte, San Nicolás and Sur. After the new political and administrative division of Cuba in 1976, it was divided into four municipalities ( Majagua, Ciego de Ávila, Baragua, and Venezuela).

Climate

Ciego de Ávila experiences a tropical savanna climate (Köppen ''Aw'').

History

The city of Ciego de Ávila was founded by 1840, having at the time 263 inhabitants. In 1877, its municipal government was created and the city became independent of the city of Morón. Ciego de Ávila gained importance when the Spanish army built a fortified military line, known as Trocha de Júcaro a Morón, to impede the pass of insurrectionist forces to the western part of the island during the 1st War of Independence (1868–1878). This "trocha", which made this region famous, was thought to be strong enough to stop the Cuban forces, but was not able to stop the pass of General Máximo Gómez and several hundred men. Many of the old Spanish colonial buildings in Ciego de Ávila (such as the Teatro Principal) were commissioned under Angela Hernández, viuda de Jiménez, a rich socialite who battled to create a cultural mecca in her hometown.

Demographics

In 2004, the Municipality of Ciego de Ávila had a population of 135,736. With a total area of , it has a population density of .

Attractions

*''Parque Martí'' is the largest park in the city of Ciego de Ávila. *''Teatro Principal'' is a 500-seat theatre located just a few blocks from Parque Martí. *

University of Ciego de Ávila The University of Ciego de Ávila "Máximo Gómez Báez" ( es, Universidad de Ciego de Ávila "Máximo Gómez Báez", UNICA) is a public university located in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba. It was founded in 1978 and is organized in 7 Faculties. Organiza ...

(''Universidad de Ciego de Ávila'', UNICA) is the province's secondary education institution. *''IPVCE Ignacio Agramonte'' Instituto Pre-Universitario Vocacional de Ciencias Exactas (10 a 12 grado) con emphasis en las ciencias basicas: Fisica, Quimica, Matematica, Biologia y Electronica. Se encuentra en la carretera a Ceballos. *''la Turbina'' is a small amusement park located to the north west of the city with approximately 6 rides to use.

Media

Its present radio station, ''Radio Surco'' (previously ''Radio Cuba'') was founded October 10, 1952.

Sports

Ciego de Ávila's basketball team Ciego is a Spanish word meaning "blind". It may refer to: Places *Ciego de Ávila, a Cuban city, seat of the homonym province *Ciego de Ávila Province, a Cuban province *Arriete-Ciego Montero, a Cuban village in Cienfuegos Province Other *Ciego ...

has been one of the most successful teams in the country as it won 9

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, i ...

since 2005.

Notable residents

Andy Morales Andy Morales (born December 3, 1974, Ciego de Ávila, Cuba) is a Cuban former professional baseball player. He played third base domestically for La Habana in the Cuban National Series and for the Cuban national baseball team in international play ...

(b. 1974, Major League Baseball player * Tony Pérez (b. 1942), Major League Baseball player * Rusney Castillo (b. 1987), Major League Baseball player *

William Granda William Granda Lewis (born August 8, 1985), is a Cuban professional basketball player. He currently plays for the Ciego de Avila club of the LSB in Cuba. He has been a member of Cuba's national basketball team. At the 2016 Centrobasket in P ...

(b. 1985), member of

Cuba's national basketball team The Cuba men's national basketball team represents Cuba at international competitions. It won the bronze medal at 1972 Summer Olympics and finished in 4th place at the 1974 FIBA World Championship. It is the only team from the Caribbean to win ...

References

External links

Ciego de Ávila (fica.inf.cu)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciego de Avila Cities in Cuba Populated places in Ciego de Ávila Province Populated places established in 1840 1840 establishments in the Spanish West Indies 1840s establishments in Cuba